Our First Egg

A very exciting event happened at our red house today. Our little Pekin bantam Honey laid her first egg. The clever little girl went into her house to do it, too; she didn't just lay somewhere out in the garden. I am so proud of her. It's just like one of my babies taking its first steps.

Now country readers may well be wondering what this mad city woman is doing getting all excited about a chook laying an egg. Please bear with me and don't laugh too much.

We bought our two little hens at 6 weeks of age in late April and they are now well-loved members of our family. They are gentle, sweet creatures who cluck away quietly and are hand-fed happily by the children and their friends. They wander around the garden each day pecking, scratching and dust-bathing, or resting quietly in the shade. Their worth to us far exceeds their more obvious value as layers, manure providers or weed eaters.

As you can see, the egg is about half the size of an ordinary hen's egg. I can hardly bear the thought of cracking it.

And here is our clever girl herself, Miss Honey. Isn't she beautiful?

Sunshine and Caramel Fruit Scrolls

The lunar eclipse last night was amazing. We stood out the front of our house with our neighbours and watched the moon slowly turn red. So strange, so exciting. It was also wonderful to read Jaybird's comment on my last blog post, and to think about her getting up early to watch the same eclipse in far-away Texas. I had no idea that the eclipse was visible so far away.

Today we are enjoying another warm, sunny, blue-skied day. How intense is the blue of an Australian sky! As long as I live I will never tire of days like this.

I have been fence-painting again today, but have stopped because I have run out of paint. I have discovered that I quite enjoy painting, but do not like the cleaning up afterwards. Painting is a very messy task! I am glad no-one has come to the door today, for I have been dressed in painting garb again; my husband's old trackpants, paint-speckled sneakers, an old shirt, and a grey lab coat. I am looking forward to showering and changing into something more attractive.



In a day of messy activities, my little son and I made caramel fruit scrolls this morning.


Playing with real dough is so much more fun that playing with playdough -- and you can eat what you make.

The scrolls are made from a simple scone dough, rolled out to a rectangle and spread with condensed milk that has been cooked to a caramel. Lastly, you sprinkle the caramel with dried fruit or crushed nuts. You roll the dough up, cut 3 cm slices, turn them spiral-side up, and bake in a hot oven for 20 minutes

Here they are, straight out of the oven, ready for afternoon tea. This photo does not do them justice; they taste better than they look.

Now I am off to have a shower, then to work on some household tasks that have been delayed because of the painting.

I hope you have a great day, wherever you are.

Warm Weather, Blossom Trees and a Red Moon

plum blossom

We are enjoying the most wonderful, unwintry weather at the moment. It was 26 degrees here yesterday, the second warmest August day ever for Melbourne.

This morning I went for a 6.30 am walk with my next-door neighbour. We do this a couple of times a week and it is a great opportunity to catch up. She has a demanding job and three kids, and I have a fairly easy job running our home business, and four kids. We each have Grade 5 girls and Grade 3 boys at the same school, so are often able to co-ordinate rides to various activities. We organise our schedules during our walks, chat, and pick up fresh bread at the bakery on the way home.

Three or four weeks ago we walked in darkness wearing gloves and thick socks. Today we began in early light and the sun was up when we returned home. All through the walk I admired the blossom trees in people's gardens; glowing, scented masses of pinks, reds and whites that only a couple of weeks ago were bare branches. I wish I had had my camera with me.

Do you ever wish you could imprint a beautiful image on your mind, so that you would never forget it? That is how I felt this morning. I could have stood, staring, for hours.

peach blossom

The stone fruit trees in my own garden are still small, but the blossoms are nonethless truly exquisite. I am eagerly looking forward to future years when they are as impressive as the ones I saw on my walk today.

I have been thinking how planting a tree is a sign of optimism, of faith in the future. It is also an act of generosity. A little sapling is planted and may take many years to flower, bear fruit, provide shade or habitat, yet the belief is there that this will one day happen, even if the planter is not around to benefit.

While the warmth and sunshine we are soaking up are wonderful, we are sorely in need of rain. Melbourne has only had 15 mm (3/5") in August and we really needed good winter rainfalls to fill our water catchments.

Now that the weather is warming up, and the soil drying out, I have returned this plastic toy container to my kitchen sink to provide some extra grey water for the garden. I planted a number of new roses over winter and hope to keep them alive this way.

Finally, here is a picture of a red moon during a total lunar eclipse in 2000. Beautiful, yet almost frightening. No wonder the ancients thought that a blood-red moon was a bad omen, leading to pestilence and ill-fortune.

From 7 pm this evening Australia will experience a total lunar eclipse, which results when the earth passes between the sun and the moon, blocking the sun's light. I am looking forward to taking the children outside to watch it.

total lunar eclipse

photo of the moon from google images, the other photos are my own

Breakfast Time

What does your family eat for breakfast? While I love cooking and make a significant effort with many meals, I am ashamed to confess that breakfast here is usually cold, commercial cereal. Occasionally I make porridge or pancakes, boil eggs or whip up a fruit smoothie. Leftover apple or rhubarb crumble warmed up is a popular breakfast option too. Mostly, however, cold cereal is it.

My husband prefers cold cereal on weekdays, so he is easy to please. However, my children have been hinting that they would like more choice, at least some of the time. I, too, would like more choice, as I am not really a cereal person.

My father loved hot breakfasts of the kind he remembered from a country childhood. He would often have kippers or sardines on toast during the week, and on the weekend he would sometimes do the traditional Australian fry-up, with lamb or mutton chops, bacon, eggs, tomatoes, sausages and plenty of toast. I can't see myself cooking chops for breakfast; amongst other reasons, lamb is now enormously expensive, and I really couldn't stomach meat first thing. My mother recalls crumbed, fried lamb's brains being served at breakfast during her childhood; I can't see myself preparing them either.

I am keen to try more baked items such as muffins, french toast, pancakes and perhaps even homemade crumpets. The advantage of baked goods is that any leftovers can go in the lunchboxes or be eaten when the ravenous hordes descend at afternoon tea time each day.

Here is a recipe for Hot, Fruity Muffins that I found in an old Marguerite Patten cookbook from around 1960. They are an English-style muffin, very similar to scones in method. They do not have milk in them as the grated apple provides enough moisture.

I made them after breakfast today as a practice run, and my four year old taste tester says they are yummy.

Hot Fruity Muffins

8 oz SR flour
1/2 t mixed spice
3 oz butter or substitute
2 oz sultanas
1 oz sugar
1 medium sized cooking apple, peeled and finely grated
1 egg.

Method

Sift together flour and spice. Rub in butter and add sugar and sultanas. Mix to a soft dough with egg and apple. Turn on to lightly floured board, knead quickly and roll out to 1/2 inch thick; cut into round about 2-3 inches in diameter. Place on well greased baking tray and cook in a hot oven for 15 minutes. Split open, butter and sprinkle with brown sugar. Serve hot.

hot fruity muffins with butter and homemade apricot jam

poster is from www.allposters.com

Why Today's Colour Is Green

I am continuing my colour series with green, and not because it is my favourite colour, although it is.

I have also not selected green because I have found some new way to be environmentally friendly.

The reason that green is today's colour is because I spent most of the day covered in green paint. I have splashes up and down my arms, in my hair and on my face. The rest of me would be more paint speckled except that my husband loaned me a lab coat to wear over my clothes, which were, in fact, his clothes; old track pants and a tatty T-shirt. Now I know why he insists on keeping some clothes that should never be seen in public: very useful for painting!

In this part of Melbourne most backyards are separated by high pine fences. When we moved into this house the fences were painted dark green. Two, which were falling down, have since been replaced, and for some time we have wanted to paint these the same colour as the third side.

There is an aesthetic reason too for painting the fence. When the fence colour is pale and bright, such as a new pine fence, the garden appears smaller and more boxy. When the fence colour is darker, and especially green that blends with the garden plants, the garden appears larger. As we live in very close proximity to our neighbours, the larger that the garden seems the better!

This weekend is a perfect painting weekend; warm and sunny with the added advantage that, being winter, some of the plants that grow on the fence line are still without leaves.

We only completed half the painting today and I am exhausted. I have new respect for professional painters; painting is really tiring, even when one has the assistance of one's lovely husband and hardworking eldest son.

I also took the opportunity to paint this park bench. It was scrounged in a hard waste collection and has needed a lick of paint for a long time.

park bench

In this picture you can see the finished back fence, which matches the adjacent pool fence well. Doesn't that tree fern look nice with the late afternoon sun shining upon it?

The paint colour we used is Dulux Imperial Ivy Green, should anybody be interested.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Yellow

After yesterday's red post I thought I would continue with my colour theme for a few more days. At first I thought this might be difficult since it is still winter and most of the flowers aren't out yet. However, I had fun looking around and finding things to photograph.

So here are some yellow things I found around our home. I hope you enjoy looking at them, and that they add some golden cheer to your day.

yellow-centred jonquils

washing on the line

rainbow chard

swing set

bananas

These bananas are getting over-ripe, aren't they? They have since been turned into a banana cake with cream cheese icing. Yum!

Red

Last night I went out to dinner with some of the kindergarten mums. It was one of those nights where I was tired from looking after my still-sick eight year old and House beckoned at 8.30 (Hugh Laurie, I love you) and I nearly stayed home, but was really glad that I braved the cold and went out.

We ate at a local Greek restaurant and both food and company were most enjoyable. Our group was the last to leave; the waiters were making subtle hints like wiping down neighbouring tables and yawning for some time before we finally left.

I donned my red shoes.



And took my red bag. There's nothing like a splash of red to make a girl feel like she could conquer the world.

Then I thought that I'd carry the red theme a little further and take some more red shots.

So here's a camellia in the back yard. Its foliage is scanty because many of its leaves burnt off last summer, and it was also being strangled by a creeper that I have since cut back, but it has masses of flowers now.

And here is a glimpse of our red house. The house is built from clinker bricks which are not uniformly red; some have patches of blue, white and other colours.

Plum Blossom

For me, plum blossom is one of the loveliest early signs of Spring.

We have two young Japanese plum trees in our front garden, a Santa Rosa and a Satsuma. The Santa Rosa is self-fertile but the Satsuma needs the Santa Rosa to produce fruit. Both trees have white blossoms which are just beginning to come out.

Last summer the fruit fell off in the drought. I am hoping for better this year. I remember my grandmother making plum jam from fruit collected in a park near her house, and I would love to be able to do the same.

The street I grew up in in Sydney was lined with prunus, or ornamental plum, trees. In late winter they delighted the eye with their masses of ruffled, pink blossoms. The trees seemed to hum from all the bees that covered them.

Jane Austen

For any of you who love Jane Austen's writing as much as I do, Mrs Wilt over at The Sparrow's Nest has just done a series of posts on her work. As I am sure I have mentioned before, Pride and Prejudice is my favourite novel of all time. I have read it every single year since I was twelve.

And that scene in the BBC miniseries where Mr Darcy (Colin Firth) walks out of the lake with that wet, white shirt. Oh, no, I just swooned ... again.

Seriously though, Elizabeth Bennet is a truly likable heroine. Jane Austen wrote, "I must confess that I think her as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print, and how I shall be able to tolerate those who do not like her at least I do not know..." Elizabeth combines intelligence, wit and beauty and her ultimate marriage to Mr Darcy is shown to be a true match of equal yet complementary minds.

image from www.allposters.com

My Chair in the Sun

Do you have a favourite part of your garden, where you like to sit and relax and watch the bees buzzing and the plants growing? Perhaps you have a porch you sit on each evening to watch the sun set?

One of my favourite spots is the corner where sits this wooden chair. I scrounged the chair from

a neighbour's junk pile during hard waste collection time a few years ago. One of the legs is chipped, but otherwise it is perfect.

Our backyard has three sections: an upper area where citrus trees grow and there is a rusty, broken old swingset waiting for this year's hard waste collection; a fenced pool area; and a lower area, where we have vegetable beds, apricot and lemon trees, roses, herbs, berry plants and the bantams' house (which is really a rabbit hutch).

This chair sits in one corner of the lower area. I often take my cup of coffee out there on sunny days and drink it whilst watching the bantams peck around.

My youngest son and I sit there while the bantams eat their lunch. Yes, we give the chooks lunch; tragic, I know. We stay nearby while they eat so that their grain is not stolen by Indian mynahs, blackbirds, pigeons and other pesky, grain-napping species.

The Denby mug I had my coffee in today is my favourite mug. It has just the right curve to warm winter-cold hands. I made the coffee just the way I like it too; strong, black, unsweetened espresso with a layer of milk-foam on top, but no milk actually mixed with the coffee itself. I sip the hot black coffee through the white foam. Yum!

I know these pictures don't show much of the garden itself; don't worry, I'll have pictures in the next few weeks. It's just that it's still winter here, despite the sunshine, and there's not really much to see at the moment.

Pumpkin Soup and Food For Thought

This morning saw me up early and making pumpkin soup for a soup and roll lunch we had at church today. This lunch was both a celebratory end to the 40 hour famine for those who had participated, and an occasion to welcome a very special guest, Leena Lavanya.

Leena is one of the most inspiring speakers I have ever heard. She works amongst the poorest of the poor in India, including AIDS victims and lepers. These people are rejected by their families and left to live without shelter or healthcare. She has opened a home and school for street children and child labourers and she also works with prostitutes, helping them to learn trades to that they can escape from prostitution yet still provide for their families. Another of her achievements is providing medicines, mosquito nets and multi-vitamins to tribal folk who suffer a high incidence of tuberculosis, malaria and mulnutrition.

Leena's grandfather was a pastor who worked with lepers and she grew up learning from him. She said that the Bible passage she lives by is the story of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25:

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me .... Whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.

You can read an article about Leena here.

Here is my recipe for pumpkin soup. You can use any variety of pumpkin. I mostly use butternut, which in some countries is called a squash, not pumpkin; I am not really clear on the distinction.

Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients

1 kg (2 lb) pumpkin flesh
1 L (1.5 pints) chicken stock
1 large onion
1 clove garlic
a little oil or butter
pinch nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
3/4 C cream
sour cream and chives, to serve

Method

Saute diced onion and garlic in butter/oil for a few minutes. Add pumpkin and stock and simmer, covered for 20 minutes. Cool slightly, then puree (I use a stick blender). Add nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste. Stir in cream.

Reheat before serving. Serve with a swirl of sour cream and few diced chives for a garnish.

pumpkin soup

image of pumpkins from www.allposters.com

Blog Pictures of Children: the Pros and Cons

I have been asked why I don't put pictures of my children on my blog, or even reveal their names. The main reason is that my husband and I felt that we could endanger the children if we reveal too much about them on the internet.

There have been a few incidents around here lately where children have been approached by strangers and I did not want to make my children more vulnerable. Our eldest three are at school and we felt it unwise for strangers to be able to identify them and know a great deal about them, unbeknownst to us. To protect my children I have also decided not to use my own image on this blog either.

I have often been sorely tempted to post photos of the children here -- they are totally gorgeous, after all -- but have felt it best not to. Please understand that this is not in any way a criticism of others who post images of their children; if I had begun blogging when they were babies and with me all the time, I probably would have posted pictures too.

Indeed, I love seeing what everyone looks like, and I know that everyone's situation is different. This is a purely personal judgement at this stage in our lives.

I would value input from other, more-experienced bloggers about this issue (I have been blogging less than three months). Are we being too over-cautious? Have any of you, or your family members had negative experiences, such as perhaps teasing or bullying at school, from having appeared on a blog or any other internet forum? Please let me know what you think.

image from allposters.com

A Quiet Day

Today has been a quiet, stay-at-home sort of a day as my 8 year old son remains quite unwell. He slept most of the afternoon which was good, but he woke distressed from a feverish nightmare.

He is off his food but requested a smoothie for lunch, which I happily made for him. Master 4 and I enjoyed it too. We used frozen raspberries, fresh strawberries and bananas, a dollop of fruit yogurt and some milk. Thick, creamy and delicious, and such a pretty shade of pink!

banana, strawberry and raspberry smoothie

I do my grocery shopping each Saturday, so Friday night's dinner tends to be leftovers or dishes that use up remaining vegetables and fruit. Tonight we are having a quick chicken and vegetable pie made from the remains of last night's roast mixed with leftover gravy, and topped with frozen puff pastry. I also have a lentil curry or dahl simmering on the stove that is using up the remaining fresh vegetables from the refrigerator. I will serve that with some leftover rice that was also in the fridge.

Tonight I am taking my eldest two children to see a school play at my eldest son's school. The two youngest boys will have a quiet evening with their Daddy, and an early night.

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Touches of Spring

Although it is cold and grey outside, Spring is definitely in the air. Daffodils are raising their golden heads and the wattle trees in the park near here are coveredwith their fluffy yellow blossoms. The room in which I write is filled with the sharp, sweet scent of daphne from a posy in a flowered vase. Such tiny, waxy flowers for such an intense perfume.

daphne

Here is a sprig of wattle I snapped off during my walk early this morning. Even before sunrise, at 6.30 am, the wattle trees glowed with golden light.

wattle

Today Master 4 and I had some special guests for lunch; his two best friends, who happen to be twin brothers, their mother and their baby brother, who is 16 months old. The boys played lego and trains, cars and pirates. They cuddled and hand-fed the bantams (who are less than enthusiastic about four year old boys) and all requested the same sandwich filling: peanut butter.

I baked this peach upside-down cake for our lunch dessert. The recipe was for pineapple upside-down cake but I substituted peaches.

peach upside-down cake

When we collected him from school this afternoon Master 8 complained of a headache. He looked pale and when I took his temperature it was over 39 C (102 F). So I lay him on the couch with a rug and a cushion and he is watching kids' programmes on TV, a rare privilege mid-week.

I am roasting a chicken and vegetables for dinner, and tonight Miss 10 goes to Girls' Club at our local church. The only girl in a family of boys, she enjoys this girls' only time so very much. At Girls' Club she learns crafts, makes films, cooks, and does many other wonderful activities. I am so grateful to the women and older girls who run this group every week.

I can hear the oven beeper; I must post and run ...

Amazing Grace History/

This video is truly amazing. I found it on another blog and just had to post it here. Do spend a few minutes watching, if you can.

Patchwork, Knitting and Some Colourful Ramekins

Over the past few evenings I have hand-sewed these hexagonal patches. Because I have always found mending clothes so excruciatingly tedious I never realised how relaxing, and indeed, addictive, hand-sewing can be.

What am I making? I don't know. This will become what it becomes, which in itself is a liberating thought.

I have also finished my second knitted cotton dishcloth, in very different colours to the first one, but still using Anchor Magicline. I posted the pattern here.

These Martin Boyd ramekin dishes were inherited from a family member who no longer wanted them and they have been hiding, unused, in our sideboard for years. My little boy got them out to play with yesterday and I realised how very beautiful they are, with their glowing colours. I am planning to use them tonight as soup bowls.

Martin Boyd (1893-1972) was a member of Australia's most famous artistic family. He was the uncle of the artist Arthur Boyd and was a well known author himself. Martin Boyd wrote the Langton Quartet, a loosely autobiographical series of novels, The Monforts (1928) , Lucinda Brayford (1946), and many other books. After the Second World War he began Martin Boyd Pottery in Sydney where items such as these ramekins were produced.

Last night my mother rang to say that she is accepting my invitation to come south and spend Christmas with us; she lives at the beach north of Sydney. I am so pleased and already excited about this. Last Christmas was a sad and terrible time for our family as my father was dying from cancer. I am praying that the brunt of Mum's first Christmas in forty years without Dad may be lessened a little by being far away from their shared home together.

Awards

Over the past week I have been tagged for two blog awards.

Becky, over at Sweet Cottage Dreams tagged me for a Nice Matters Award. What a pretty logo.

And Polly from Polly's Patch and Lisa from Altered Cutlery both tagged me for a Frugal Subversive Award. Unfortunately I am having trouble thinking of anyone to tag for this one who hasn't already been tagged! If you would like me to tag you, do let me know.

Thank you for the tags, ladies. I know it's bad form for me not to have done anything about tagging anyone else yet. I think it's great the way we bloggers can help promote each other's blogs this way. It's on my to-do list, really it is!

The "Nice Matters Award" is "for those bloggers who are nice people; good blog friends and those who inspire good feelings and inspiration. Also for those who are a positive influence on our blogging world." I think that there are many, many wonderful blogs to which this applies, and I am always grateful to the '"good blog friends" I have made since I started blogging 2 1/2 months ago.

Rocket (Arugula) and Pecan Pesto

My family loves pasta with pesto, but there is no basil in the garden in winter. The little jars from the supermarket are all right, but not nearly as nice as freshly-made pesto.

Yesterday I decided to try making rocket pesto instead. There is ample rocket in the garden, as you can see. I allow the rocket to flower because I don't mind if it self-seeds. I use it often; in salads, as a herb, as a green vegetable, and as a lettuce substitute.

Most recipes call for walnuts in rocket pesto, but I used pecans because I had them in the cupboard.

rocket in flower

a couple of curious onlookers

ready to go

Here is the recipe. Any leftover pesto can be stored in the fridge in a sterilised jar with a thin layer of olive oil on top to seal.

Kate's Rocket and Pecan Pesto

Ingredients

3 C rocket (I used more because I had plenty)

4-6 cloves garlic, to taste

1/4 C pecans

1/4 C freshly grated parmesan

1 C olive oil

salt to taste

Method

Blend washed rocket and oil in a food processor or blender. Add remaining ingredients and blend until you have the texture you prefer: I like a bit of crunch left in the nuts rather than a smooth puree. You could also use a mortar and pestle to do this.

Serve with pasta, as a dip with flatbreads and crudites, or use as a substitute for basil pesto.

bottled pesto

Treacle Tart and Other Goodies

My best news for the day is that my husband has just returned from Thailand. He has been working with members of the precious stone industry, testing and analysing the purity of sapphires and other stones. A very pleasant surprise was the ruby and gold bracelet that he gave me. Yes, I know, life's tough.

During the week, while the kids were sick, I gave our walk-in pantry a good clean-out. I got rid of anything that had expired and put everything that was in a bag with a twist-tie into a proper container. I have a mixture of Tupperware and Decor containers, and I also recycle glass jars to store things in. I wiped over all the shelves and I got out my label-maker and made cute little labels for everything.

At the back of the pantry I discovered a jar of treacle. Now, I don't know about you, but I don't think I have ever made anything with treacle in it in my life. I adore golden syrup but treacle is too strongly molasses-y for me. I have no idea why I originally bought it.

I scouted through several cookbooks looking for ways to use it up and discovered recipes for treacle pudding and treacle tart. These sound very English boarding school, don't they? Indeed, as one of the kids reliably informed me, treacle pudding is Harry Potter's favourite dessert and Mrs Weasley makes it for him the night before he returns to Hogwarts in The Chamber of Secrets.

I decided to make treacle tart and it was much nicer to eat than I expected. It tastes better than it looks. I won't give you the recipe because I combined two; the one in The Australian Women's Weekly's Sweet Old Fashioned Favourites, and Nigella Lawson's from How to Eat. Nigella, in fact, uses golden syrup instead of treacle and I would probably do so too if I made it again.

Pastry-making is a wonderful activity in which to involve children; they love rolling it out and cutting different shapes. The strips on top of the treacle tart were cut with a plastic playdough cutter, and while they would never pass muster in a restaurant they tasted good to us!

treacle tart

Afterward there was some left-over pastry so I let my ten-year old daughter roll it out to make jam tarts. I made enormous amounts of apricot jam the summer before last and I think the family will be keen to see the last of it.

apricot jam tarts

I hope you all have a great weekend!

A note on this post: It seems that golden syrup and treacle may mean different things in different countries. In Australia golden syrup is a brown, caramel-tasting syrup that is a by-product of cane-sugar production. It is a popular alternative to honey on scones, pancakes etc. During the Great Depression, golden syrup was a staple food; it gained the nickname "Cocky's Joy" for that reason. (A cocky is a small-scale, often struggling, Australian farmer.)

Treacle is a stronger-tasting and smelling sugar syrup, and molasses is stronger still. Although I am not clear on this fact, I think our golden syrup may be the same product that is marketed as treacle in some countries. Can anyone clarify this?